A Journey's End
by Kalebgmorgan
Summary: Eugene left the NCR in search on contentment and wanders with trader caravans. Walk with him as he fights creatures, the Wasteland and his inner turmoil. No correlation with Lone Wanderer, Courier or Sole Survivor. No copyright infringement intended all right belong to Bethesda. Rated Mature for language and graphic violence
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The wheels creaked as they rolled over the cracked and broken pavement of the old highway. Eugene had been tired of the smell of Brahmin since they left the Capitol Wasteland weeks ago. He had traveled with roving merchant caravans after leaving Nevada and the thought of another week with Millie was enough to make him crazy. She was a medical supplier to doctors in the wasteland and would often stop at hospitals to scavenge for Old World medical machines or medicine. This scavenging group never included Millie of course, instead it was Eugene and two brutes named Gruff, the other known as Femur (he had used a femur to kill three raiders in Indiana.) They were fine enough, Eugene thought, a bit daft but alright people. Millie was a nurse before the bombs fell and was ghoulified in the process. She knew her way around a doctor's office and capitalized on that.

Boston Commonwealth had plenty of hospitals and the trading hub that was Diamond City so that was where the group was headed. They had to come from the south because of some crazy radiation, at least that's what Millie said. Either way Eugene was missing the discipline of traveling with his squad in the NCR, especially in comparison to this group of super mutant-eque men and a ghoul women. The pay was good though. At least it was good enough for food and booze that wouldn't turn his stomach.

Eugene was in the midst of cleaning the barrel of his hunting rifle when MIllie let out a scruffy yelp. He looked up to see Gruff's sausage finger pointed to the big red cross on the side of a one story infirmary. It was time to hit another empty building. He knew they needed oxygen tanks and Med-X and Millie was in desperate need of stitching supplies so she could hold the skin to her face (something she was strangely self conscious of despite her age.) Eugene hopped off the back of the caravan and walked to the rails of the side of the highway and pulled the scope of the rifle to his eye. He scanned the area around the infirmary and then the entrance.

" _The entrance is clear_ ," Eugene said letting his rifle down. They followed the sign to the exit ramp and Millie pulled the Brahmin to a halt.

" _Okay Eugene here's what I need..._ ''

Eugene interrupted her not wanting to hear her growl on, " _Millie just write me a list. I don't think I will remember_." She scoffed and wrote out her list. Eugene wouldn't have had any problem remembering he just was tired of her talking. She handed him the list and the three started down the crowded exit ramp. Cars blocked off the way down and that was Millie's reason for not coming along. At least that was her excuse for not coming. Eugene knew this wasn't going to go well. He felt it in his gut.

" _Listen guys, let's just do this in and out. If we can do this without getting every raider and feral on us, we need to."_

" _Shut up Eugene we can handle ourselves and you're not the boss, Millie is_." Gruff was always rude and defiant towards Eugene. His best pal Femur joined him in everything no matter what, whether it be fights, drugs or women.

" _Whatever, come on_." The three walked between cars being careful to look around their surroundings for anything good. Eugene saw a pack of cigarettes and eagerly went for them before his slower companions realized. It was a nasty habit he had picked up while staking out in the frontlines of Camp Forlorn Hope back in New Vegas. He often would smoke when the nerves of being so close to Caesar's Legion soldiers got to him.

Eugene thought back to when he was a Lance Corporal in the NCR before he decided to resign. He was part of the battle at Helios One with the Brotherhood of Steel and remembered clearly the hulking men in their suits of power armor. The sound of mini guns whirring through the night and bright headlamps blinding men while they screamed being cut apart by the .5mm bullets would stay with him for the rest of his life.

After the horrors of that night he was deployed to Hoover Dam as a scout before the first attack of Caesar's Legion. For a while it was a laid back station. Morning rose over the Mojave when the first Caesar's Legion battalion attaked. Malpais Legate and his centurions charged at his entrenched brothers and they held him off. The rest of the 1st Recon team left him to join the Rangers in their "tactical retreat" to Boulder City, bringing most of the attacking force with them.

Despite the success of defending Hoover Dam Eugene was forcibly removed from 1st Recon and assigned to Camp Hope. The frontlines. He had seen dozens of men killed in charges toward the Legion held town of Nelson. Night after night Eugene layed perched in between two boulders with a radio and his sniper rifle while he watched the blood soaked wasteland. The sound of moans and cries of pain of the dismembered NCR soldierss laying in blood was yet another horror he couldn't shake. Seeing countless people die in the no man's land between Forlorn Hope and Nelson forced him to resign after that tour ending in early 2281 and lived in the scum of Freeside for years fighting and drinking...

A sound snapped Eugene to the reality at hand. It came from a car crashed into a light post at the bottom of the exit ramp. a violent thump against metal rang out through the small town centre. Gruff's eyes grew large with excitement and Femur ran down towards the source. " _Shit_ ," Eugene jogged after them gripping his 10mm with confidence. He slowed down to a walk with the rest of his small group and stared pontedly as the sound grew more consistent. Femur jumped around the back of the trunk towards the drivers side. He yelled as a feral ghoul lept onto him and he toppled over the railing. The moment was moving in a blur, arms were flailing and the creature was straddling Femur, clawing widly at his leather armor and screeching unintelligible gargles. As fast as the moment, Gruff dived into the side of the ghoul and dropped his sledge hammer into it's skull.

The two lifted Femur to his feet and asked if he was okay. Other than bruising and surface level scratches he was fine. It was getting dark and the trio was in a rush to get to the infirmary. They arrived and stood at the door, Eugene grabbed the handle and readied his pistol...locked.

Femur stepped up to prove his questioned masculinity, " _Watch out punk ass._ " He lowered his shoulder and slammed himself into the metal door. Nothing. Once again. The door dented in. After a third time the door gave way.

They stood there at the doorway looking into a pitch black corridor filled with the echo of the metal ringing off of tile, afterwards an all encompassing silence. The smell of mold and rot came with the cold breeze that wisped across Eugene's face. There was something more that settled upon the three of them. It was desolate.

Eugene went first.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey all thanks for reading, and also the feedback is very appreciated and welcomed. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Eugene ducked into the building hesitantly. The stillness spoke to Eugene shaking him to his core. The eerie feeling hung over the small group and Femur appeared to be nervous. This felt different than anything he had ever experienced. Femur reached out for anything in the unsettling darkness only to feel Gruff's bag.

" _What do you want dumbass? Everything alright?_ '' Gruff was worried for Femur. Femur was alright outdoors and in well lit areas but he was scared of the dark. Rather what he couldn't see. " _Look bud, just stay close and we will be done soon and dammit be quiet,_ " Gruff whispered, " _Hold on to my the strap on my bag if you need to._ "

The three crept into the waiting room while their eyes focused in on their dark surroundings. A skeleton was sprawled across the floor and the scent of rotting flesh grew stronger with every step. Eugene strained to hear anything past their boots stalking across the tile. Nothing. They entered a small hallway with rooms on each side, Eugene nudged a door open on his right and turned on a flashlight to scan the room. It had a small metal table with a surgical tray, a sink to the right and a reclining chair. Femur inched towards the sink and opened the cabinet grabbing all the medication and dropping it into his bag while Gruff stood at the door. Eugene looked hard at the list taking anything that could relate. Next room.

Gruff led into the adjacent room. It was similar to the last but in the chair lay a child's skeleton and on the floor next to them an adult in stained scrubs. Eugene went to the small surgical tray and saw a small stitching kit. As much as Millie had annoyed him, Eugene enjoyed helping Millie with her self esteem, whether it be a whig or toothpaste or things to hold eerything in place. They crossed the hall diagonally and nearly gagged at the horrible aroma. The stench of death was enough to make Eugene sick. Gruff couldn't handle it and leaned into the corner and wrenched.

A screech rang out through the narrow hallway and a clang of surgical tools alarmed the three. Femur whimpered and Eugene froze. He remembered the screams of his squad in Helios while the Brotherhood of Steel maimed each of his friends. The moans of the injured. The humm of a mini gun killing his friends and the ground shaking with every step of the power armored enemy. He could taste the dust and sand in his mouth.

" _Come on Femur! We gotta go!_ " Gruff pulled his assault rifle down from his shoulder and turned into the hallway ad sprinted for the door Femur close behind. Eugene raised his 10 mm pistol to eye level and shined his light to the back of the hallway. A female ghoul stumbled through the doorway and roared as the light reflected off of her white dead eyes. Two followed behind her and another behind them. Blood soaked their chins and the scrubs they wore. Eugene fired at them killing the first and hitting the second in the shoulder. The feral behind fell over the corpse and Eugene was out of the building. Femur and Gruff were running as fast as they could toward the exit ramp but hadn't gotten far when Eugene caught up with them.

The shrieks were now close behind them. The trio had gotten to the ramp and squeezed into the cars, Gruff looked back at the ghouls trailing ten feet behind them, " _Fuck! There's like twelve of them right behind us!_ "

Millie looked down and saw them running frantically towards her bringing the horde of feral ghouls behind, " _Come on ya sons o' bitches ya led them right at me!_ " She raised her assault rifle and fired into the crowd, she mainly missed not being a very good aim, but she hit some.

" _We aren't gonna make it! Shit! We gotta get on a car or something,_ " Eugene clamored up onto a the closest car and fired at the crowd of ghouls while Femur climbed onto the roof of the car next to him. The air was filled with growls and the crack of gunfire coming down from Millie. Suddenly Gruff screamed.

" _AAH! Get it off me! He's on me! Son of a bitch,"_ Eugene looked over to see a ghoul biting into his shoulder. Femur cried out as Eugene shot into the attacker. A bullet went through the soft, rotten skull and into Gruff's bicep. " _You shot me motherfucker!_ " Gruff pushed himself onto the hood of a car and shot his pistol into the remnants of the horde. Blood was now flowing from his wounds and he was growing dizzy. Femur blasted his double barrel shotgun into the ghouls, glancing anxiously at his friend bleeding out.

After the last ghoul had been eliminated it was quiet. The night was on them and the smell of gunfire was the only thing left from the attack. Femur, now visibly shaken, helped his friend down and put Gruff's arm over his shoulder to help him to the caravan. Eugene followed closely walking backwards to see if any more were coming. Millie shouted to them, " _Come on we need to go and set up a camp_!''

They reached the top of the ramp and got to the back of the cart. Millie looked grimly at the man stumbling towards her, " _He's losing a lot of blood...Femur get him into the back, Eugene you need to drive the brahmin._ "

" _Oh man, is Gruff gonna be okay Ms. Millie? Is he gonna lose his arm or die_?"

" _Quit..._ '' Gruff struggled out, " _being such... a puss Feme._ " Gruff fell out of consciousness shortly after.


	3. Chapter 3

Here is a short one, I wanted to set up a foundation for the next chapter and also give some backstory so work with me.

Chapter 3

" _Okay Femur, hold him down I gotta' cauterize the bite!'_

" _Ms. Millie he's not awake._ "

" _Let's hope he stays that way…"_ Millie poured whiskey over the bite in his shoulder and Gruff woke up with a startle. She reached for a spatula she had put over a bunsen burner, " _Listen Gruff, baby this is gonna' hurt like a bitch. Honey I need you to hold Gruff down for me okay_?" Femur did so with a concerned look. Stuffed a rag into Gruff's mouth and lowered the spatula towards the hole in his arm. She hesitated. Gruff wasn't her favorite person in the world but he treated Femur right and that was enough for Millie. The smell of burning skin filled the air and Gruff thrashed around the wooden cart, screaming into the rag, " _Hush baby hush._ " She pulled away the spatula and Gruff passed out. Millie poured water onto the wound and began to stitch up the gun shot wound in his bicep.

" _Ms. Millie?_ "

" _Yes honey_?"

" _What was it like before the war? Was it pretty?_ "

" _Oh it was lovely, the trees and the grass. Buildings were so nice and the clothes. I remember the excitement of it all. Especially if something was new. My boyfriend would get me new dresses and makeup and I felt so beautiful. Not like now but he would tell me I was beautiful everyday. He was handsome Femur. His name was Marco. His hair was thick and full and his smile was gorgeous._ "

" _Did you love him Ms. Millie_? _Were you married_?''

" _I loved him more than anything. I had a lot of boys that liked me but none of them treated me very nice. Marco was different to me. But my daddy didn't like Hispanic people. He never knew that we were together, but he did know Marco. Marco was a bad boy. He got into a few fights and ran with the wrong crowd but I didn't care."_

" _What does Hispanic mean?_ "

" _Ya know how Gruff is black and you 'n Eugene are white? Marco was Hispanic, he was from Puerto Rico."_

" _Where are you from Ms. Millie?_ "

" _I am from Orlando, Florida. As a matter of fact I was part of this thing called a beauty pageant. It was a bunch of pretty women just like I was and we would try to win this gorgeous crown_."

" _Did you win_?"

" _Sure did. I was only 19 back then. That was only a year before the bombs fell…"_

Eugene called out from the front of the caravan, " _Millie we got a big ass problem."_

" _What is it_?" She peered through the flaps of canvas, " _Shit…_ "


	4. Chapter 4

TW rape mention. Sorry readers this one is meant to be a little graphic.

Chapter 4

" _Oh God… we're done for,_ " Millie gasped. As the group went over the arch of the highway fires lit the roadway, some of it was in fifty-gallon barrels or heaps of wood. Amongst the fires was a group of about twenty-five raiders. Some were shooting up chems and two were fighting, while a man was raping another man near a car. The light of the fire shined across the face of Eugene and his face displayed fear and anger.

He had gotten so far. All the way across the Wasteland. Just to end here. Who knows what was going to happen to him? Was he going to be tortured or end up dead? Was he going to be raped and beaten or burned alive? He thought back to the crucifixions near Nelson. He remembered the men dying in the field. Was he going to die without finding happiness? What was going to happen to Millie and Femur? Eugene stopped the cart and looked back to Millie, " _What's the plan Millie_?"

" _WHAT THE FUCK IS UP MOTHERFUCKERS!?"_ A woman shouted from the raider camp below. " _WELL WHAT'S NEXT ASSHOLES? YOU COMIN' DOWN ER ARE WE COMIN' UP?"_

Eugene couldn't get past them there was no way. Shit shit shit. He was trying to think of his way out. They caught them. It was time to act. No, it was time to kill himself. He wanted to time and time again and this was his chance. He drew his pistol.

Femur shouted in anger and MIllie screamed. Gruff's body slumped after the bullet entered his skull, Millie turned to Eugene, " _Why? Why did you shoot him?_ "

" _WAS THAT AN INVITATION? WAIT…. I'M COMIN' UP, LET'S GO FELLAS'!"'_ The raiders started up the highway and were shouting with glee. Eugene scanned the raiders. None of them had guns, some had baseballs bats while others had knives. This is it. He had to act. Eugene lifted his rifle. One down. Another shot, miss. He was frantic. Eugene shot another. They weren't far off. Millie was behind him firing towards the group of savages. Femur was crying in the back. It was a surprise he hadn't attacked Eugene yet.

Millie grabbed Femur's arm and dipped out of the back of the caravan and ran leaving Eugene to take his stand. Who was he to them anyway, he had just killed Femur's friend. This was just some man. Millie could find another merc just like him but for now all she could do was run away like she had done so many times before.

The raiders were on Eugene and he was firing at the group with his pistol. He jumped out of the driver's seat of the caravan and turned to run seeing Millie and Femur sprinting far ahead of him. He felt something hard hit him in his lower back and he tumbled to the ground and then four were above Eugene pummeling him with bats.

" _Wait a minute boys, wait a minute. Lemme see who killed my men. Damn.. He ain't too bad,"_ the mangy women straddled Eugene and the raiders around him stepped on his wrists. " _Well two options for ya', your choice. You can be my bitch er you can die now,_ " Eugeneclenched his teeth while this woman caressed his face. He felt nothing but anger. " _Alright, nothing? I don't wanna kill you yet, let's see what you got downstairs_." Eugene flailed his body trying to get away from her prying hands. Seconds later he felt the butt of a gun and then everything was black.


	5. Chapter 5

This chapter hits on the asexuality of a character and to elaborate his feelings it mentions rape, so please if you are triggered by such please continue with caution

Chapter 5

Pain thumped against the back of Eugene's held. He awoke in a cot in a dark room surrounded by the sound of cussing and fighting. Eugene felt the tight grip of handcuffs on his hand and ankles. He was naked and had scratches all across his body. What had happened? The thought of rape flashed through his mind and he flushed with shame and anger. HIs whole life the idea of sex or anything like it did not seem appealing, much less so being without consent.

A fight was going on outside his door, where was he? It seemed like it was a house but was he still in Pennsylvania? He looked around the room. Psycho covered the end table above him and a rug covered the window on the back wall over a broken dresser. A mirror hung on the wall in front of the bed next to an empty closet. On the left wall were flags with strange letters and one flag that said "sigma nu". Eugene tried to wriggle from his metal constraints until it hurt as the fight continued outside. He thrashed harder and the end table fell over. Eugene froze and so did the action outside his door.

" _Is that my boyfriend in there? Ready for round two?_ " It was the same woman from earlier. She burst through the door and stood at the entrance. This was the first time Eugene noticed the woman. She was kind of tall, her hair was cut and shaved in strange way and she had paint or blood or something smeared across her face and upper chest. " _I think I wanna nother go round…_ " She climbed on top of him.

Eugene's mind started racing how was he going to get out. The idea of this woman making him a slave and worse made him angry, he spoke to her, " _Hey, let's make this fun?_ " He caught her attention. Good. " _Take these handcuffs off so I can use my hands right._ "

" _How do I know you're_ _not gonna pull some shit?_ ''

" _Because I want you._ " The raider woman looked at him hesitantly, " _If we do this I want to do it right. I wanna make it good for you. It's been awhile for me… You too right?_ " She seemed innocent for just a second. Wordlessly she reached up and unlocked the cuffs around his wrists and put his hands around her waist and started to kiss him. He had to force himself to seem interested. Eugene was disgusted. The woman got more into it, her mouth tasted terrible. He put his hands on her cheeks and she fell into the situation. His hand went to the back of her head while they kissed. His left hand slipped down the side of her face to her chin and he cupped her chin. Eugene held tightly and shifted his arms. A sickening pop replaced her moans of anticipation and her body slumped. What was he going to do now. He couldn't just walk out there were at least three more people out there. Eugene took the handcuffs off his ankles and scoured the room for anything. He found some old shorts and a small pocket knife in the corner of the closet.

There was nothing he could do. There was an eerie silence in the room despite the raucous outside. Eugene opened the knife and leaned against the white wooden door. The room smelled like dust and rotting wood and he could still taste the raider woman on his lips. His breathe was the only sound in the simple room. Was there a way out? Eugene wasn't ready to die yet and he sure as hell didn't want to die to the hands of some pricks. The chaos outside was dying down and it turned to laughing and calmer conversations.

Eugene felt regret in his stomach, had he missed an opportunity to escape during the fight outside. The area outside of the rotting room was well lit. Light seeped through the space between the carpeted floor and the old wooden door. He had a small window of any chance to escape. Eugene's mind ran a thousand miles an hour. After seconds counted by his breathes he moved into action. Eugene walked towards the woman he had just killed and lifted her lifeless body up. A tinge of guilt flashed through Eugene's conscience as he started towards the white wooden door.


End file.
